wethered



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(ModeL) E. R. WETHERED.

LATCH AND LOOK COMBINED. No. 316,098. Patented Apr. 21, 1885.

A Fig.1.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2. E. R. WETHERED.

LATCH AND LOOK COMBINED.

Patented Apr. 21, 1885..

(Model.)

. -iTE STATES ATENT FFIGEQ LATCH AND LOCK COMBINED.

SPECIFICATION forming part of LettersPatent No. 316,098, dated April 21,1885.

Application filed January 19, 1884. (Model) Patented in England January31. 1882, No. 482; in France August 4, 1882, No. 150,467;

in Germany August 10. 1882, No. 22,143, and in Belgium August 16, 1882,No, 58,774.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDWIN ROBERT WEIH- ERED, a subject of the Queen ofGreat Britain, residing at WVoolwich, in the county of Kent, England,have invented new and useful Improvements in a Latch and Look Com bined,(for which I have obtained patents in Great Britain, No. 482, andbearing date J anuary 31, 1882; in France, No. 150,467, August 4, 1882;in Germany, No. 22,143, August 10, 1882, and in Belgium, No. 58,774,August 16, 1882,) of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the improvements hereinafter described inlatches and locks,

theobject of the invention being to provide a self-shooting latch orlook which. when the door is open, shall have no protruding bolt,combined with a striking-plate having an incline which,as the door isclosed, lifts the end of the latch-bolt, so as to release it and allowit to shoot forward and drop behind the said in cline when the door isclosed. The door cannot then be opened until the end of the bolt hasbeen drawn in past the incline. I thus insure the bolt being caught andretained within the lock,as it should be, until itis next liberated bythe incline in again closing the door. The shooting forward of the bolt,when released, may be effected either by the action of a spring or bymeans of a weighted lever handle or handles, or by the combined actionof spring and weight. In some cases the bolt does not drop behind theincline on the striking-plate.

In order to enable my invention to be fully understood, I will proceedto describe the same by reference to the accompanying drawings, in whichFigure 1 is a front elevation of a mortise latch-look constructed inaccordance with my invention when a spring isemployed to shoot the bolt,the incline of the striking-plate being constructed to allow the bolt,when shot, dropping behind it. In this figure a cover or plate of thelock is removed,and the parts are shown in the position which they willoccupy when the door to which the lock is affixed is open. Fig. 2 is anend View of Fig. 1. Fig.

3 is a front elevation of the lock and strikingplate, partly in section,the parts of the lock being in the position which they will occupy whenthe door to which the lock is affixed is closed and locked. Fig. 4is aside view, Fig. 5 an edge view, and Fig. '6 a vertical section, of thestriking-plate of the lock. Figs. 7 and 8 represent views of alatch-lock in which the bolt is pressed forward by a weightedleverhandle. Fig. 9 isa front View of the strikingplate. I

Similar letters in all the figures represent similar or correspondingparts.

I will first describe my invention by reference to Figs. 1 to 6.

a is one of the plates of the lock-case which carries the lockmechanism, and b the normally-flush or non-protruding latch bolt. Thisbolt is provided with the usual hole for the spindle j to pass through,and is provided near its fore end with a tooth or projection, e, for thepurpose hereinafter described.

0 is the spring, which always tends to press the bolt b forward anddownward.

cl is the opening in the end of the lock-case, which opening issufficiently large, as shown in Fig. 2, to allow the end of the boltbtorise and fall, as hereinafter described, as well as to be protrudedandwithdrawn. The front or door plate, A, of the lock-case is cut awayat (1, so that as the door is closed the latch b may come against theincline, hereinafter described, on the striking-plate without the boltprotruding. When the latch bolt (2 has been drawn back by means of itshandle, and the handle released, the latch-bolt b will drop and thetooth or projection 0 will fall behind a stud or projection, f, on thelock-plated, so as to retain the latch-bolt within the lock.

9 is a slot in the rear end of the latch-bolt b, which receives the bossh of a tumbler, 1', through which the spindle j, on which the handle isfixed, passes.

k k are projections or shoulders on the rear of the bolt, on which thetumbler z bears when operated by the handle to withdraw the bolt fromthe striking-plate l.

m m are projecting inclines upon the striking-plate l, and n is a recessin the said projection, which recess n forms a portion of the bolthole0. The double incline striking plate (shown in the drawings) allows ofthe lock being fitted either to right or left handed doors,

and is also suitable for doors opening both inward and outward. \Vhenrequired for a door opening-in one direction only, only one in elinedprojection is necessary. 1) is alockbolt, and q is a tumbler provided,in connection with it, for locking the latch-bolt b in its closedposition when required.

The operation of my improved latch or look is as follows: \Vhen theparts of the lock are in the position shown in Fig. 1, it will be seenthat the latch-bolt is entirely within the lockcase, (the door beingopen.) If the door be closed, the end of the latch-bolt b (which fromthe formation of the lock-case at d, it will be seen, is sufficientlyexposed) will ride up one of the inclines m until the tooth eshall beclear of the stud or projection f, when the bolt b will be throwndirectly forward by the action of the spring 0 into the bolt-hole 0 inthe striking-plate Z, and will drop into the recess a in thestriking-plate, and so effectually close the door. In order to open thedoor again, the boltb must be drawn so farback int-o the lockcase as tobe quite clear of the incline m, and consequently so far back as tobring the tooth 6 well to the rear of the projection or stud f. Thisinsures the engagement of the tooth c with the retaining stud orprojection f before the dooris opened, which might not occur if the doorwere free to open immediately the end of the bolt 1) was free from theopening 0 in the striking-plate Z. This withdrawal of the bolt 1) iseffected by turning the handle of the door, whereby the tumbler 2' iscaused to bear upon one of the projections or shoulders at the rear ofthe bolt, and the bolt will be drawn-back into the position shown indotted lines at Fig. 1. The door can now be opened, and the handle beingreleased the bolt, under the action of the spring 0, will be forcedforward until the tooth e meets the stud or pro jeetion f, as shown infull lines at Fig. 1, in which position it will be retained until thedoor is again closed. If it be desired to lock the latch-bolt b initsclosed position, a key is introduced into the key-hole r and thelockbolt 1) shot into the position shown in Fig.

The bolt may be held back in the lock-case by a longitudinal slot andvertical notch in the bolt, and a pin or stud in the lock-plate, or viceversa, instead of by means of the tooth or projection e,hereinbeforedescribed.

The handle may be applied in various ways.

Thus the bolt may, as shown in the drawings,

be operated by a handle capable of turning in either direction, andwhich operates by a tumbler or follower pressing against projections onthe bolt.

.Thetumbler or follower may have a double arm, so that in the event ofthe spring break ing, the bolt 1) can be forced outward as well as drawninward, and the door closed and opened without the spring; or the boltmay be drawn back by a handle attached directly to it; or it may bemoved by a lever-handle having afinger projecting through the case ofthe lock and pushing the bolt back when the handle is drawn forward.

The arrangement shown in Figs. 7, 8, and 9 is similar to thathereinbefore described,and shown in Figs. 1 to 6, with the exceptionthat, instead of employing a spring to produce the forward motion of thebolt 1), this is effected by a weighted lever-handle, (shown in dottedlines.) which operates the tumblerz', the rear of the bolt 1) beingformed with a second projection, 70, ag. inst which the tumbler t bearsto press forward the bolt 12, and which will be well understood withoutfurther description. In this case the strikingplate is shown without therecess a, hereinbefore described.

I have described my invention as applied to mortiselocks; but itsapplication to other kinds of locks will be understood without furtherdescription.

Having thus described my invention and the manner of performing thesame, what 1 claim is 1. The combination, with a normally-flush ornon-piptruding latch-bolt adapted to be held back by a tooth or detcntuntil lifted and then automatically shot forward, and a recess, d, inthe lock-case, of a striking-plate provided with an incline. m, adaptedto pro.

ject into such recess and serving to lift and liberate said bolt, andalso provided with a recess, it, behind this incline, to prevent thedoor being opened until said bolt has been withdrawn within the lockcase, substantially as shown and described.

2. The combination, with the front or door plate, A, having theprojection f on its inner side, and a recess, d, in its outer face, ofthe bolt having a projection, e, and of the striking-plate Z, as madewith the double inclines,

back, with its edge flush with the edge of the door.

4.. A striking-plate for mortise latch-bolts, having the bolt-holeo andhaving inclines m, the door-plate having a recess, 61, combined with ashooting bolt which is normally held back flush with the edge of thedoor, all as set forth.

5. In combination, the striking-plate Z, having the projection withdouble inclines, the recess a, and bolthole 0, the front plate having arecess, d,and projection f,the normallyflush bolt having the proj cctione, and a spring or weighted handle to drive it forward when raised byeither of the inclines, all substantially as and for the purpose setforth.

\Vitnesses: E. It. WETHERED.

G. F. REDFERN,

B. BRADY.

